Our first impression of Berlin was ... "why did we come?" When we arrived around midnight, we walked along the East Berlin Wall Gallery. At one point it was supposed to exhibit works from artists about the wall, but now it is littered with graffiti not only from locals but from tourists as well. We were disapointed with the destruction.
The next day we followed directions to the laundromat to check on their opening hours. Along the route the walls of buildings were covered with pointless graffiti "tags" as well. For a city that was not on our orignal plan, it wasn't a good start.
We consulted our map and headed towards the museums. There is an island that has a bunch of museums on it. On the way we tried currywurst, which is sausage with a tomato sauce on it. Then they sprinkle it with curry power. It is quite good. We somehow managed to walk over the island and then ended up in the Book Burning Square. Look at the picture of the books. You will see a sign to the right. I thought that it was interesting that in a place where ideas were destroyed, new ideas are now being promotted. They are trying to erase the bad images of repression. The other interesting thing to note is that I think it is targetted towards the tourists. The English side was given promenence and the German was on the back. On all other signs we saw, the German was given precedence.
One of the other sights we visited in Berlin was the Holocaust memorial. At first I thought it was uneven "graves", but when you start walking between them, you find yourself going deeper and deeper. Apparently the artist said that there is no meaning to the memorial, but many have interpretations on their own. I don't think the picture does it full justice to the length of the rows, but it shows the height. The other intersting fact we found out is that the columns were brushed and had a chemical applied to them. This treatment prevents spray paint from sticking to it. The company that provided this chemical also provided the chemicals for the gas chambers in concentration camps...
The more we explored, the more we began to like the city. I think being in Berlin changed the way I think about Germany. I am not as focused on their past (like the holocaust) as I once was. The past did happen, but it doesn't mean that things have remained the same. Berlin isn't the prettiest city in Europe, but it does have a lot of history. This is just a glimps of what we did in Berlin.
